There are certain tips which are useful to remember in order to make great presentations.
1)
Don’t forget the basics
Consider
the time of your presentation. If you are going to use a ppt or other software
as visual support, remember that it should be long enough to help you deliver
your presentation and engage the audience, but short in order to avoid
boredom.
Choose
an appropriate font. Fonts communicate subtle messages in and of themselves. Ask yourself if the people at
the back of the room will be able to see what you are showing. It is important
to assure that everyone would be able to follow the presentation whatever they
are standing.
2)
Sometime less is more
Limit
bullet points and text. Take into account the purpose of the visual support
included: Why is it that you need them right where they are? The same rule applies
if you are thinking of including texts. Large piece of texts to be read may
result redundant and you will lose peoples’ interest.
Don’t
include too many effects on the presentations, they can confuse people and
create difficulties to follow it.
3)
Are my slides well designed?
Bear in mind the order of the slides and the content
to be included in each of them. A great idea is to include an agenda of what you
are going to deliver during the presentation, so people know in advance what
the presentation will be about.
4)
Use videos or audio when appropriate
Using video clips to illustrate examples promotes active cognitive processing and not only will serve to back you up, it will also serve as a change of pace and thereby, increasing the interest of the audience.
The link below leads you to an article developing several tips as regards presentations. The site may take a moment to load, but It is worthwhile reading and considering when planning and delivering our own presentations.
I found it interesting, since it covers several points to be considered, especially number 21. The last time I travel to a convention, I attended a conference hoping to learn something but in the end I realized that the presenter was promoting and trying to sell books. What a deception!
What do you think are the elements that
make for good or ineffective presentations?
Hi Iva! I really liked your entry. Your tips were short, simple, easy-to-follow, and most of all really useful. I think that the elements that make a presentation entertaining and effective are: the good use of presentation softwares and showing enthusiasm. Moreover, if you, as a presenter, show enthusiasm, you in a way are proving to your public that your topic is somehow important and that what you are saying can be useful. No more is needed. Let me give you an example, some months ago, I had to present a tale to a group of 10 year-old pupils. At that time, I thought the best way to approach this kind of pupils (who are constantly in contact with technology) was to present the tale digitally. So I prepared a powerpoint presentation with the tale, containing animations and pictures. In the end, I realized there were two factors that made my presentation engaging for the learners. Those were my enthusiasm and effort put on the making of the presentation, and the good use of the presentation software (in this case powerpoint). After this experience, I learnt how important presentations are in the EFL classroom and how we can make them more effective by taking advantage of a good use of technological tools.
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ResponderEliminarIva! I found your post very useful because it provides clear items in order to have an idea of what we should and shouldn't do when doing a presentation, especially the point "sometimes less is more" which makes us reflect about this preconception that including too many things in our presentation will make them better. I think these items you included above are a good guide to start thinking about the choices we make when presenting a topic.
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